Communication's Her Real Best Friend
by DezoPenguin
Summary: Valentine's Day snuggling leads to serious relationship talk between Shizuru and Natsuki in this "Duran and Kiyohime's Omake Theater" side-story. Will Natsuki's hot chocolate survive?


**Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater**

"Communication's Her Real Best Friend"

or

"If I'd Known We Were Doing This Now, I'd Have Made Tea Instead"

_(featuring the Kuga-Fujino family pets!)_

~X X X~

_A/N: This story is a direct sequel to "A Balanced Recipe," 2012's D&KOT Valentine's Day story. And happy 20th Valentine's Day as a married couple to my very own Natsuki, Tarma Hartley!_

~X X X~

"It was a good Valentine's Day, wasn't it?" Natsuki Kuga asked, snuggling up to her girlfriend. The two of them were curled up together on the couch, a soft blanket pulled up to their armpits over them both. Mugs of hot chocolate were in their hands, capped off with way too many marshmallows and a small mountain of whipped cream—just the way Natsuki liked it, in other words.

"Mm-hm," Shizuru Fujino agreed. "I had a lot of fun. And the best part of it is, those chocolates we made together should last for about a week, and every time I eat one it will be like having a little bit of this day back all over again."

Natsuki gave her a look.

"I'm really impressed that you were able to say that with a straight face."

"_Ikezu_," Shizuru pouted. "I was being serious!"

Natsuki chuckled.

"I know that. Mostly. I'm just amazed at how you can be so completely sappy without any shame at all."

"And what is there to be ashamed of? I love you very much and think you should be told so, and very often. And I do not think our current audience would be particularly concerned with such matters."

Since they were alone in their own living room but for their CHILDs, Shizuru had a good point. Particularly as those pets were also asleep after a fun-filled day, with Duran stretched out full-length on the floor and Kiyohime lying with her six heads draped over his back.

"Well, it's.." Natsuki began, then paused. She'd been dating Shizuru for over a year and a half now, and was starting to develop better romantic instincts. And those instincts were telling her in flashing-neon-sign fashion that she was very near the line of saying something really stupid, and on Valentine's Day nonetheless. Like she was getting near the spot on the conversational map marked "Danger! Here Be Hydras!"

She took a deep breath. Honesty sounded like a good plan. And if she was going to get yelled at for being a raving dumbass, it had might as well be for actual acts of dumbassery, not for just random foot-in-mouth disease.

"Okay, 'shame' isn't quite the right word. 'Embarrassment' doesn't quite cover it, either…"

"I am well aware of just how _incorrect_ those words are."

Natsuki winced. _Mental note: do not get all weird about displays of affection while actually in the middle of a romantic moment._

Phrasing it like that made it pretty clear in her own mind just how it was she'd ended up out on this metaphorical ledge she now found herself balancing on. She took a sip of cocoa, hoping for miraculous inspiration and not getting any.

"Ow!"

She had burnt her tongue, though.

"What, now I'm getting karma applied directly to the offending area?" she grumbled. "Do you have an in with the forces of the universe?"

"I doubt it, however much I find it appropriate that Natsuki is being punished for being uncomfortable with being told that she is loved by her girlfriend while alone in their living room on Valentine's Day."

Natsuki winced again.

"Is there any way that could sound worse?"

"You probably should not try."

"Yeah, probably not." She punched the arm of the couch in frustration. "Damn it, it bugs me, though! I'm not ashamed or embarrassed, not like you think. I mean, I'm comfortable with the gay thing and all that, but…"

"But?"

"It's the big, splashy displays of affection that…they just _get_ to me. Like that carriage thing I did for you last year? Do you know how scared I was to do that? Ah, what am I saying, of course you know. That's why you were so happy about it, right?"

"Yes, that's true, at least in part." The reminder of the previous year's extravagant romantic gesture seemed to have soothed her temper somewhat. At least, she'd relaxed enough to sip at her cocoa. Of course, Shizuru didn't burn her tongue, which made Natsuki somewhat perversely wish her girlfriend would someday slip on a banana peel and wipe out into a lily pond or really anything at all that was less than absolutely graceful and elegant. It got old, sometimes, being the only one who ended up the universe's chew toy. "I was extremely touched at how far outside your comfort zone you went for me. But _that_ was an extremely public display of affection."

Natsuki took another deep breath.

"Yeah, I know, but…in their way, those gushy 'I love yous' of yours are public, too. They're in front of _you_."

Shizuru blinked.

"Natsuki, that doesn't make any sense at all."

A soft growf from the floor made her look down. Duran had woken up, probably becaue of Natsuki's yelp when burning her tongue, and was giving her a look as puzzled as Shizuru's.

"You, too?" She snorted. "Woman's best friend, indeed."

"Technically, dogs are _man's_ best friend," Shizuru pointed out. "The saying is that diamonds are a girl's best friend."

"That's ridiculous! What would I do with a diamond? You can't play fetch with a diamond or take it on a run or use it as a pillow when you're lying on the floor reading. I suppose it's good for using in glass-cutters when I'm breaking into a place, but that's a little specific for a cliché and I'm out of the covert-operations game, anyway. All you can do is wear them or sell them, and at that point you might as well say, 'a woman's best friend is a fat stack of cold cash, just prettied up so it's not so obvious.' It's demeaning! Also, Duran is a wolf."

Despite the seriousness of the previous topic, that rant sent Shizuru into a fit of the chuckles.

"I take it, then, that I can cross expensive jewelry off of the list of ideas for future gifts for Natsuki?"

"Definitely! I mean, it's different if it's something with a lot of sentimental meaning, like a family heirloom or an engagement ring or that kind of stuff. But just random jewelry for its own sake? No, thank you."

Shizuru was still smiling.

"Do you know, I am beginning to understand your dislike of public, showy displays of affection."

"You are? Where did that come from?"

"You believe that they are insincere," Shizuru concluded.

Natsuki was not tracking that fully, so she took another sip of cocoa. This time she ended up with whipped cream on the tip of her nose, which prompted Shizuru to lean in and remove it with a flick of her tongue.

A year and a half of dating definitely had an effect on a person, as shown by Natsuki not spilling any of the hot chocolate in her lap.

"I don't get it," she said. "I mean, I used to think you were just teasing me when you got all affectionate and flirty, but I know you really mean it when you do something over-the-top and loving."

Shizuru shook her head.

"That isn't quite what I mean." She pursed her lips, in an expression that not only suggested that she was thinking intently, but that Natsuki found extremely cute.

"See? Words are hard," Natsuki managed to get some of her own back. Of course, Shizuru immediately figured out what she wanted to say, her creativity doubtless stimulated by the fact that Natsuki was, even obliquely, scoring conversational points.

"When I tease you, it's about me and my feelings: I am looking for a reaction from you. It's about me getting to see something. And a big, showy romantic display in public is at least a little like that. It is saying to the crowds, 'look at me; this is how strong my love is' for the giver, or for the recipient, bragging, 'look at me; this is how much I am loved.' And if it involves the reaction of outsiders, how romantic can it be? Natsuki is a private person who holds the secrets of her heart close, so it is only natural she would find it suspicious and shallow to make a public show."

"Particularly since _you've_ pretty much mastered the art of putting on a _fake_ face to show the public," Natsuki realized. "I mean, that whole perfect-lady student council president routine of yours…the more public you are, the less real you get."

Shizuru didn't answer right away, and Natsuki had the sinking feeling that she'd blundered into a fresh minefield.

"I had not thought of it like that, but you do have a point."

There was nothing to do but press on with the whole "honesty" thing and hope for the best.

"I mean, I just tell people where they can stick it if they get to prying into things that are none of their business. But you…you've got, like, this entire other person that you hold out to strangers and casual acquaintances in place of yourself. I'd never thought about that before when it came to romance stuff, but between that and the teasing and my own dislike of doing _anything_ social, I think that you must be right."

Her girlfriend let out a long sigh.

"I am not going to apologize for being who I am, Natsuki."

"No, no, that's not what I was saying!" Natsuki yelped, her voice rising so sharply that Duran sat up, ears pricked for whatever trouble had so unnerved her, which sent a very surprised Kiyohime tumbling off onto the floor. Offended hisses formed a background to Natsuki's explanation "I'm really happy that you trust me enough to let your guard down around me and just be yourself, without all the armor. I mean, I wouldn't be here otherwise, right?" She grinned and added, "It makes me feel smug, sometimes, when I watch you being the perfect lady and I know the truth."

"The truth?"

"That you're _really_ perfect when you're _not_ a lady."

Shizuru gave her a lazy smile.

"Natsuki is making a fine recovery tonight."

"Eh, it's Valentine's Day. I have lots of inspiration. But back to the point, yeah, I think you've figured it out. Even over and above my general nerves with big emotional displays because I spent most of my life stifling those emotions, I bet there's something in the back of my head that looks at when you do something big and fancy and it worries if I can really believe it. And I don't like doing it back because _I_ feel false. Like I'm putting on a show."

"Now I do wonder if I should apologize."

"Definitely not! It's one thing if you were doing something that actually did try to make me uncomfortable, but…you just like that stuff, right? I figure after all those years of squelching your feelings, it must give you the warm fuzzies to do all that romance-novel routine."

Shizuru raised an eyebrow.

"The 'warm fuzzies,' Natsuki?"

Natsuki awarded Shizuru with her first blush of the evening.

"We've already established that words are hard. You know what I mean. You're…you're like a woman who just _likes _diamonds and jewelry because she thinks they're pretty and they make _her_ feel pretty, not 'cause of all that fake social crap that I was complaining about. There's nothing wrong with liking things for their own sake!"

"I should certainly hope not, or else Natsuki will be in a great deal of trouble the next time she seeks out a Christmas fruitcake."

"Fruitcake is not part of an evil scheme to corrupt the world into becoming a hellish landscape where there's no point in bothering with environmental regulation, allowing corporate interests to do whatever they want, dammit!"

"So Natsuki claims. I still find it suspicious that your supplier is Alyssa, with her connection to the Searrs Foundation multinational financial holdings."

"She's American, where they _have_ fruitcake, you idiot, and you're going to get a pillow upside the head if you keep teasing me."

"_Ikezu_," Shizuru gave her a fake pout. "If we are going to have a pillow fight, shouldn't we be wearing skimpy lingerie? That seems to be the official uniform according to movies and manga."

Natsuki snorted.

"I should have guessed you'd find a way to get this conversation back around to flirting."

A smile laden with sultry promises danced across Shizuru's lips.

"It _is_ Valentine's Day. You should have expected nothing less."

"Heck, I should have expected it because it's a day, period. You wouldn't be Shizuru, otherwise."

"Natsuki is implying that I have a flirtatious nature?"

The fact that she managed to say it with a straight face made Natsuki crack up laughing.

"I love you, Shizuru; you're the best."

"Oh, Natsuki, I love you too," Shizuru sighed happily, and leaned up against her, nestling her head into the crook of Natsuki's neck.

"So…we're good, then?"

"Of course we are. Isn't Valentine's Day appropriate for coming to a better romantic understanding of one's lover?"

"Good point. I guess we ought to do something fancy next year, since cuddling with you and mugs of cocoa is pretty much my ideal romantic evening and we should be fair about it."

"Let the record show you have made this promise in front of witnesses."

Kiyohime's heads all bobbed up and down in agreement, while Duran woofed and thumped his tail on the rug. He'd had fun being a carriage horse the year before.

"Traitor," Natsuki grumbled, prompting a giggle from Shizuru. Recognizing that any remark would just draw more teasing from her girlfriend, she instead took a drink of cocoa. "Darn it, all my marshmallows melted while we were talking."

"_Ara_, it seems that mine have as well. Fortunately, there is an easy substitute to provide the missing sweetness." Without any further hesitation, she turned her head and captured Natsuki's lips with her own.

Natsuki had to admit that Shizuru's kisses were definitely the sweetest treat of this or any Valentine's Day.


End file.
